Tag Archives: Wildlife Conservation Society

Five orphaned coyote pups are now living at the Queens Zoo after being rescued and rehabilitated in Massachusetts.

The four female and one male coyote were all born in the spring and would not have survived in the wild without their mothers to protect and provide food for them, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Though coyotes are generally shy and tend to avoid people as much as possible, they are a resilient species of canine, and can thrive and reproduce in urban environments.

The pups’ new home at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park facility consists of an expansive, grassland habitat.

“The Queens Zoo educates visitors about animals from North and South America,” said Scott Silver, director and curator of the Queens Zoo. “Coyotes range throughout North America including New York. Having these animals at the Queens Zoo is an opportunity for people to see coyotes up close and to learn more about these fascinating yet often misunderstood animals.”

The zoo welcomed a Roosevelt elk calf on June 10, making the total number of its elks five. The healthy 25-pound boy is now with the other elks in the zoo’s woodland habitat, the Wildlife Conservation Society said on Monday.

The Roosevelt elk is the largest sub-species of elk in North America and adult bulls (males) can weight up to 1,100 pounds while cows (females) can weigh up to 700 pounds.

Their main diet consists of eating herbaceous plants and a wide range of berries. Life expectancy of the mammals is approximately 25 years when raised in captivity. Both male and females elks have brown hides.

Born on April 29, the female fawn weighed one pound at birth, and can reach 20 pounds and around 12 to 14 inches at the shoulder as an adult, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. It is still nursing, but will soon transition to a diet of fresh leaves, grain, kale, carrots and hay.

Native to Chile and Argentina, southern pudu make up for their small stature in other ways, according to the WCS. They bark when they sense danger, can climb fallen trees and when chased by predators run in a zig-zag pattern.

Last summer, another southern pudu, also weighing about one pound at birth, was born at the zoo.

The Queens Zoo has a new Andean bear and one of its female animals has a much younger new mate.

Bouba, a male, recently arrived in the borough from a zoo in France, and shares a habitat with another Andean bear, a female named Spangles, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

“Bouba’s energy will make him a star,” said Scott Silver, animal curator and director of the Queens Zoo. “He represents an important addition to the Andean bear breeding program among zoos in the United States.”

Andean bears, also known as spectacled bears, are the only bear species endemic to South America, and are declining in the wild due to habitat loss and hunting, according to the WCS.

If Bouba gets together with his female habitat mate, Spangles would be considered a “cougar.”

Weighing one pound at birth, the yet-to-be-named doe is still nursing, but will soon start eating fresh leaves, grain, kale, carrots and hay, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Once it stops growing, it will be 12 to 14 inches at its shoulder and weigh as much as 20 pounds.

Native to Chile and Argentina, southern pudu make up for their small stature in other ways, according to the WCS. They bark when they sense danger, can climb fallen trees and when chased by predators run in a zig-zag pattern.